Razor-blade sharpener



E. W. PBEETORIUS.

RAZOR BLADE SHARPENER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 3.1919.

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Application filed July 3,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IRWIN W. PREETORIUS, a citizen of the United states, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements'in Razor-Blade Sharpeners, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to devices for sharpening-safety razor blades and has as one of its objects to provide a device for this purpose extremely simple in construction and inexpensive to manufacture and adapted to be operated by hand.

Another object of the invention is to so construct the device that the sharpening element will act upon the edge of the blade in the most effective manner both to hone and strop the blade and in a manner simulating the honing and stropping of an' ordinary razor blade by hand.

Another object of the invention is to provide in a device of this class, a novel form of stropping roll constructed to simultaneously perform the operations of honmg and stropping.

A further object of the invention is to provide in such a device a novel means for supporting the blade to be sharpened, the means being adapted to yieldably support the blade so that the edge of the blade may be caused to bear more or less firmly against the sharpening roll of the device.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the device embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view therethrough;

Fig. 3 is a front to rear sectional view through the device;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a modified form of the sharpening roll;

Fig. 5 is a similar view illustrating a further modification of the said roll.

The base of the device and the blade support are preferably integrally formed and produced from an integral sheet metal blank. The base is indicated in general by the numeral 1 and the same has. a flat under side adapting it to be firmly supported upon any available flat surface to which, if desired, the base may be permanently secured in any desired manner although it is equally convenient to emplo the device by merely holding the same by and upon the supporting surface. As will be Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 41, 1921.

1919. Serial No. 308,436.

presently explained, the sharpening roll of the device is rotatably mounted above the forward portion of the base 1 and the blade support, indicated in general by the nuineral 2, is located above the rear portion of the sa1d base. This support comprises a resil ent leaf which is integral with the rear portion of the base and is curved upwardly and thence forwardly as indicated by the numeral 3 so as to provide a blade rest 4 which lies in spaced-relation to and above the upper surface of the rear portion of the base The blade rest 4 is flat upon its upper side so as to provide a flat surface upon which the blade to be sharpened may be disposed, the blade being held upon the rest by two or more fingers of the left hand while the right hand is being employed in rotatmg the sharpening r'oll in a manner to be presently pointed out.

t its opposite forward corners the base 1 1s provided with integral upstanding ears 5 provided with bearing openings 6 receivmg the ends of a shaft or spindle 7 as clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, the shaft being provided at one end outwardly beyond the respective or adjacent ear with an operating crank handle 8. A stop collar 9 may be fixed in any suitable manner upon the last mentioned end of the spindle and asimilar collar or a nut 10 may be fixed upon the opposite end of the-shaft or spindle, these stop elements lying immediately outwardlyof the ears 5 so as to prevent longitudinal displacement of the spindle'while being rotated.

Heads 11 are fixed in any suitable manner upon the end portions of the spindle 7 immediately inwardly of theears 5 and the body 12, of the sharpening roll, indicated in general by the numeral 13, is fitted upon the intermediate portion of the spindle'and engaged at its ends in any suitable manner by the said heads 11 so as to be held for rotation with thespindle. The body 12 of the sharpening roll may be of any material suitable to be employed for the purpose of stropping the .blade' to be sharpened such for example as leather, fibrous material, various, metals, or compositions of materials. This body 12 is formed with one or more helical grooves in its circumferential surface, one groove being indicated in the drawing and designated by the numeral 14, and disposed within this groove is a helical strip 15 of any material suitable for the purpose of honing the edge of the razor blade. This strip might be of metal, wood, or any suitable composition of materials. As will be observed by reference to Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings, the outer or exposed face of the strip 15 is nearly flush or projects very slightly beyond the circumferential surface of the body of the roll so that it may most effectually act upon the edge of the blade in the rotation of the roll. It will be understood that I am not to be limited to the use of any particular materials either for the manufacture of the body of the roll 13 or the honing strip 15 and that if desired even the functions of these parts may be reversed, that is to say the circumferential surface of the body of the roll might constitute a honing surface instead. of a stropping surface and the exposed face of the strip 15 mightconstitute a stro ping surface instead of a honing surface. f course, the roll 13 is to be rotated through a forward or clockwise rotation of the hand crank 8.

By reference to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings it will be observed that the forward edge of the blade rest 4 is located relatively close to the surface of the roll 13, the upper face of this rest occupying a horizontal plane substantially tangential to the upper surface of the roll. Thus the blade, illustrated in Fig. 3 and indicated by the reference letter B, disposed flat upon the rest 4 may have its edge to the sharpened brought into proper engagement against the surface of the roll inasmuch as the blade support 2 is of resilient material, the rest 4 may be depressed to the desired degree in order to cause the edge of the blade to hear more or less firmly against the surface of the roll as the roll is rotated.

It will further be evident by reference to the drawing and from the foregoing description that While the device is devoid of any clamping means for the blade to be sharpened or any means for mechanically feeding the blade to the sharpening element,

alld is thus greatly simplified in its construction, nevertheless the blade may be held truly in engagement with the sharpenlng roll and any desired degree of pressure brought to. bear thereon, merely by the employment of the fingers which hold the blade in place' upon the blade rest.

Fig. 4 of the drawings illustrates a modified form of sharpening roll and in this form the body of the roll, indicated by the numeral 16, is preferably of wood and is formed with a helical groove 17 in which is placed a strip 18 of leather or other stropping material. This form of the invention is designed simply as a stropping device.

In the form of the invention shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings, the body of the sharpening roll, indicated by the numeral 18 is of metal or any other suitable material and wound helically about the said roll is a strip 19 of leather or any other suitable stropping material, the ends of the strip being secured as at 20 in kerfs 21 formed in the opposite ends of the roll body, and the turns of the strip having their edges slightly spaced as shown in the said figure. In this form of the invention also the roll serves sim ly as a stropping roll.

aving thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

In a device of the class described, a base plate of resilient material provided at opposite longitudinal edges with upstanding bearing members, a sharpening roll having a supporting spindle journaled in said members, the base plate at a point relatively remote from the bearing members being bent back upon itself in an upward direction along lines parallel to the axis of the sharpening roll whereby to provide a yielding supporting portion extending over and spaced from the base plate with its free end presented in proximity to the said roll.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

IRWIN W. PREETORIUS. [1 s.] 

